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Tuesday, 13 June 2017

'The Heads of the Headless': Penny Dreadful titles as scenario seeds

'Penny dreadfuls' - the cheap serial novels which were sold to children and the working poor in early Victorian Britain for one penny per installment - didn't acquire their name by accident. They featured plenty of blood and thunder, devious crimes, nonsensical plot twists, and authors who sometimes lost track of which century their stories were supposed to be set in, but the quality of the writing was... not high. Bombast, melodrama, and aggressive incoherence were pretty much the order of the day.

Their titles, however, were fabulous.
Here are fifty, all of which I think would make fantastic titles for D&D scenarios. Roll 1d100, halve it, and use that as the title for your next adventure!

Ada the Betrayed, or the Murder at the Old Smithy

Adeline, or the Grave of the Forsaken

Alice Home, or the Revenge of the Blighted One

Alice Leighton, or the Murder at the Druid's Stones

Almira's Curse, or the Black Tower of Bransdorf

Angela the Orphan, or the Bandit Monk of Italy

Anselmo the Accursed, or the Skeleton Hand!

Bellgrove Castle, or the Hour of Retribution

The Black Mantle, or the Murder at the Old Ferry

The Black Monk, or the Secret of the Grey Turret

The Black Pirate, or the Phantom Ship

Captain Hawk, or the Shadow of Death

Captain Kyd, or the Wizard of the Sea

The Castle Fiend, or the Fate of the Loved and the Lost

The Companions of Silence, or the Knights of the Iron Ring

The Death Ship, or the Pirate's Bride and the Maniac of the Deep (This is probably one of the greatest titles in the history of publishing.)

The Death Touch, or the Terrors of the Wilderness

Deeds of Guilt! Or the Desolate House on the Waste

The Demon Dwarf, or the Bond of Blood

The Demon Huntsman; a Romance of Diablerie

The Destroyer, or the Sorcerers of the Domdaniel

The Dice of Death

The Fate of Gaspar, or the Mystic Caverns

Fate, or the Avenger's Doom

Geraldine, or the Secret Assassins of the Old Stone Cross

Giralda, or the Invisible Husband

The Goldsmith of Paris, or the Invisible Assassin

Guy of Aulstone, or the Secret of the Iron Chamber

The Heads of the Headless

The House of Doom, or Love, Pride, and the Pest.

Julian, or the Dead Man Come to Life Again.

Kabaosa, or the Warriors of the West

The Kinsmen, or the Black Riders of Congaree

The Lady of the Fell House

The Man With the Huge Umbrella

The Mountain Fiend, or the Victim of Tyranny!

The Mysterious Dagger, or the Avengers!

The Mysterious Freebooters, or the Bride of Mystery (The more mystery the better, right?)

The Oath, or the Buried Treasure

One O'Clock, or the Knight and the Wood Demon

The Phantom Voice, or the Doomed One of the Hulk

The Ranger of the Tomb, or the Gypsy's Prophecy

The Red Cross Warrior, or the Spirit of the Night

The Rivals, or the Spectre of the Hall

The Sea-Fiend, or the Abbot of St Mark's

The Skeleton Lover

The Wild Witch of the Heath, or the Demon of the Glen

The Witch of the Wave

The Wood Devil, or the Vampire Pirate of the Deep Dell

Two Dead Bodies

(Many more can be found here, which is where I got all these from in the first place!)